Practice Makes Perfect
by rejooc
Summary: When James is feeling nervous about perfecting the church-appropriate, family-approved kiss for his wedding day, Sirius and Remus jump to the rescue.


**A/N: This world is JKR's.**

 **Written for: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Fortnightly Event. Triad: James/Remus/Sirius**

 **Writing for Hufflepuff.**

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 **Practice Makes Perfect**

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"Do you really think this is a good idea?" James' voice broke as he stared at his two closest friends in the world. Peter had politely excused himself from this exchange, but the remaining two boys weren't much more comforting.

"Do you really think it's a better idea to make Lily deal with all your bad kissing problems?" Sirius asked sincerely, sitting forward on his chair so that he was angled more directly at James' mouth.

Remus laughed softly, a small smile on his face. "How do you know he's a bad kisser, Sirius?"

James gaped awkwardly for a moment before pulling as good a smirk as he could under the circumstances. "I suppose that's why we're doing this, then, right?"

"Right," Sirius nodded, his eyebrows pulled together.

They stared at each other, the silence drawing on. As comfortable as they all were together, few things really prepared a man to help his best friend practice kissing. Of course, they could all use the practice.

"Your wedding is in two days," Remus finally announced, breaking the silence and the tension. James and Sirius blushed but Remus was calm and collected. "This doesn't have to be anything weird. We need to get you ready for a church and family approved kiss. As in you're… well I mean that…"

"Right. I'll be snogging in a church, in front of our families. Weddings are such strange things. Why don't I just practice with Lily though?"

"Are you kidding me?" Sirius interrupted, running a hand nervously through his hair and down his neck, as though imagining the constriction of the bow tie he'd wear the next day. "You think Lily wants to practice snogging someone she's snogged loads before when she's trying to get all the last minute details in place? No, this has to be us."

The silence peaked again as tensions rose, and James seemed to blush even darker when Remus interrupted a second time. "Oh this is silly," he said leaning forward. Leaning across the table, he cupped James' face in his hands and looked at him seriously. "I do," he said sternly before planting a kiss firmly on James' mouth.

Unfortunately, James was too shocked to kiss back. "No, no," Sirius said, wincing as though he'd just witnessed a bad accident. "That was terrible. Remus, Lily doesn't sound anything like that. And James, you didn't even kiss her back! Him back. You didn't even kiss back!" James screwed up his face as if he was processing the feedback. "I do," Sirius said, raising his voice a bit and mimicking Remus' actions.

"Well that wasn't much better," Remus scoffed when they returned to their seats. "James, you just looked flustered!"

"I can't exactly see my own face, now can I?" James grumbled, wiping his mouth. "I see why Lily wants me to keep my face shaved, though. Sirius that mustache is a nightmare." Sirius grinned smugly, clearly proud of his facial hair. James rolled his eyes and returned to Remus. "Go on then," he said, "show me."

Remus scowled and pushed himself up again, leaning towards James. His eyes were wispy, as though he was trying his hardest to picture anyone else sitting in front of him. Or else, trying to imagine he was anyone else himself.

"No," James interrupted, putting a hand up to catch Remus' face before it connected with his own. "You two do it. I need to know what it looks like."

Remus laughed, looking more than a bit uncomfortable with the prospect, but Sirius put on his best puppy dog eyes—an impressive display, really—and pivoted towards the man. He stood, drawing his full height, and James could almost imagine the Potters and Evans watching from the crowd. Remus hesitated a moment before standing up himself. "I'm James," he said sternly, raising an eyebrow at Sirius, who nodded.

"I, James Potter, do take thee as my lawfully wedded wife," Remus began, reaching out his hands to take Sirius'.

The real James interrupted: "That part's already done."

"What?"

"That parts already done, you just have to say 'I do.' Honestly, Remus, were you even paying attention at the rehearsal?" James feigned a shocked expression and Sirius smirked, out of Remus' sight.

"Well I wasn't planning on being the groom at the time, forgive me if I missed some of the lines." He sighed and squared his shoulders, focusing his attention on the ragged man before him. "I do," he whispered. "Forever and ever."

James couldn't help gaping as he watched the two of them. The sincerity of Remus' voice was matched only by the surprising depth of Sirius' response, as he kept his own eyes focused on his friend's.

"I do," Sirius repeated. "Forever and ever."

They stared at each other for a moment, not noticing James who mouthed _you may kiss the bride_ to himself as he watched. Slowly and very softly, Remus reached a hand out to Sirius' face, and Sirius put covered it with his own. Stepping forward with the precise movements so characteristic of the man he was about to kiss, Sirius leaned in and, with one last glance into his eyes, planted his lips against Remus'.

The moment was brief, but certainly seemed to contain more than just a demonstration. Regardless, Remus leaned back, breaking the kiss and removing his hand from Sirius' low back where it had somehow found itself. "That's how it's done," he breathed, tearing his eyes from Sirius' face.

"Well," James mused as Sirius sat down. "Unfortunately, I missed some of the details about where I should put my hands. Should I really grope Lily in a church or was that just you adlibbing, Remus?"

The man chuckled softly but ignored the question. "How about it then, Remus?" Sirius piped up, reaching into his pocket and retrieving a glittering golden band in a delicate box. "Should we get up in front of our families in a church, too?"

James gaped at the ring, and stared at Sirius' face, much the way Remus was doing. "We…? But you…? You and James!"

Sirius shrugged, throwing a wink over his shoulder at the groom-to-be. "Eh, it was nice. But when he started dating Lily that had to end of course. He's obviously moved on, so I did, too. What about it fleabag, you going to marry me or what?"


End file.
